PEOPLE
At the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee convened in Bonn, Germany, from June 28 to July 8, 2015, the decision was approved to inscribe the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution on the World Heritage list.
At a celebratory party held to mark the occasion, some of the primary promoters of the project spoke of their joy in achieving their goal and of the trials and tribulations to getting there.
Comments by Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki City
Inscription was our goal, but for a city with a number of World Heritage sites, this is also a starting line from which we will be working together with everyone in the region with an eye to the future. Of the 23 heritage components, eight are located in Nagasaki. This is, in a sense, an indication of the historical role Nagasaki has played. We take pride in this and also consider it out responsibility as a World Heritage city to convey, together with citizens, the great value of these sites to as many people as possible. There are still issues to be tackled, such as how to conserve Gunkanjima, the Hashima coal mine mentioned earlier. We have already begun to address these issues. With the help of specialists, we will strive to draft and implement appropriate conservation and management plans. As we move forward, I ask for the continued help and support of the national and prefectural authorities, and of the many individuals who have worked with us to date.
Comments by Mr. Koji Nomura, Mayor of Hagi City
Ten years ago, in 2006, the Agency for Cultural Affairs changed the procedures for deciding on World Heritage nominations and called for applications from the public. We applied and over the next 10 years we were embroiled in a diverse range of activities. Our area has five of the World Heritage components. The reverberating furnace never actually became fully operational and was really just an experiment. Ebisugahara Shipyard and Ohitayama Tatara Iron Works are very early heritage facilities. At Shokasonjuku Academy, Yoshida Shoin taught many young men who would later play major roles in Japan’s modernization. One group of his students dared to defy the prohibition against leaving Japan to secretly make their way to Great Britain and studied at University College London. These students returned as living instruments of Japan’s modernization. The experience of this group opened the floodgates for others at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate to go abroad to study and master Western technologies. Upon returning to Japan, these people established schools and introduced modern engineering technology and know-how. This World Heritage inscription is a recognition of these considerable efforts and this makes me very happy. As we strove for this goal, those of us in Hagi were oftentimes scolded and also encouraged by many people, but Ms. Koko Kato in particular. We were honored to have Sir Neil Cossons visit Hagi two times and to have his invaluable advice and guidance for which we are truly grateful. Thank you very much.
(The celebrations were brought to a close with Mayor Nomura’s call for cheers of “Gambaro!”)
Senior Researcher, Industrial Heritage Information Centre
Honorary Advisor, Nippon Mining Co., Ltd.
The Ambassador of Supporting Kamaishi Hometown
Former Director of Nagasaki City World Heritage Office
Former General Manager, Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Chairman, Fujisankei Group
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Media Holdings, Inc.
Advisor, Federation of Japan Port and Airport Construction Association
(Ex. Chairman of Specialists Center of Port and Airport Engineering)
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Former Director of the Sano Tsunetami Memorial Museum (currently known as Sano Tsunetami and the Mietsu Naval Dock History Museum)
Director of NPO Association for Thinking about Satoyama
Director of National Congress of the Industrial Heritage
Honorary Chief Priest Toshinari Ueda
Former Mayor of Omuta City
Archaeologist and Heritage Conservation Specialist
A fellow of the Japan Federation of Engineering Societies
Team Member of the Industrial Project Team Office for the Promotion of World Heritage Listing under Cabinet Secretariat
Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Mayor of Uki City, Kumamoto Prefecture
The Former Employee of Nippon Steel Corporation
An Associate Professor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering in Iwate University
Chairman of the Tourist Guide Association of Misumi West Port
President of Kuraya Narusawa Co., Ltd.
Chairman of Izunokuni City Tourism Association
Director and General Manager of Gunkanjima Concierge
Producer of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum
Owner at Tōge Chaya
Chairman: Mr. Hidenori Date
President: Mr. Masahiro Date
Proprietor, Houraikan Inn
Representative Director of Egawa Bunko non-profit incorporated foundation
The 42nd head of the Egawa Family
Democratic Party for the People (DPP) Representative for Nagasaki Prefecture
President of the NPO, Way to World Heritage Gunkanjima
Representative Director
MI Consulting Group
President of Watanabe Production Group and Honorary Chair of Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd.
Member of the House of Councillors
Governor
Kagoshima Prefecture
World Heritage Consultant
Director and Dean, The Kyushu-Asia Institute of Leadership
Representative Director, SUMIDA, Inc.
Journalist, founder of the Shimomura Mitsuko Ikikata Juku School
Representative, Rally Nippon
Chairman, Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution World Heritage Route Promotion Council Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Representative Director, General Incorporated Foundation National Congress of Industrial Heritage (Advisor, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Capital Markets Research Institute）
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Policy Director at Heritage Montreal
World Heritage Consultant
Executive Director of Kogakuin University
Heritage Architect and International Consultant
Head of Data Acquisition at The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation
Head of Industrial Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Scottish Ten Project Manager, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Mayor of Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Pro-Provost and Chairman of Council of the Royal College of Art. Heritage advisor of Canal & River Trust for England and Wales.
Dean of Tokyo Rissho Junior College
Professor emeritus of Keio University
Mayor of Kitakyushu City
At the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee convened in Bonn, Germany, from June 28 to July 8, 2015, the decision was approved to inscribe the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution on the World Heritage list.
At a celebratory party held to mark the occasion, some of the primary promoters of the project spoke of their joy in achieving their goal and of the trials and tribulations to getting there.
Director and Managing Executive Officer, Hanshin Expressway Company Limited
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Chairman, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
Mayor of Omuta City
Deputy Director-General, Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, MEXT
Former Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat
Mayor of Kamaishi City
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage Counselor, Shimadzu Limited
Chairman of the Consortium for the World Heritage Inscription of Modern Industrial Heritage (Kyushu-Yamaguchi) and governor of Kagoshima Prefecture (as of 2015)